"Australia Broadcasting Corporation chief executive Mark Scott will use a major London media conference next week to challenge the controversial speech given by News Corporation executive James Murdoch 10 days ago in which he attacked the BBC. Mr Scott was in Beijing with ABC chairman Maurice Newman and other ABC executives at the weekend celebrating the ABC's 35 years in China and lobbying to have Australia Network carried on Chinese pay-TV. The group are visiting several overseas bureaus as part of a review of the broadcaster's international operations. ... The campaign for the Australia Network's inclusion on Chinese pay-TV has been afoot for many years and it is one of about 30 international stations in a run-off for a group of limited satellite slots. A clear indication of how many will be available and when has not been outlined by China's media authorities." The Australian, 7 September 2009. The Chinese "pay TV" might refer to the new proprietary China Direct Broadcast Satellite Company. See previous post. About Murdoch speech, see Reuters, 28 August 2009. Full text at News Corporation, 28 August 2009.
"Support for the BBC has risen in the last five years with almost four out of five people believing it is an institution to be proud of, according to a new survey [in the UK]. The poll showed that 77 per cent were proud of the BBC, up from 68 per cent in a similar poll from 2004. The ICM/Guardian poll found that a total of 63 per cent thought the corporation provided good value for money, up four per cent from five years ago. Asked if the BBC was trustworthy, almost seven in 10 of the 1,001 adults questioned said yes, up from six in 10.
The poll follows a speech by News Corporation chief James Murdoch in which he described the scale and scope of the BBC's ambitions as 'chilling'." The Telegraph, 5 September 2009.